Dust guard for car axle boxes



S p 1940- w. H. SIMPSON 2,213,414

DUST GUARD FOR CAR AXLE BOXES F iled Oct. 5, 1938 Patented Sept. 3, 1940 UNITED STATES grime.

DUST GUARD FOR .CARrAXLE BOXES Willis H. Simpson, East Orange, N. J.

Application October 5, 1938, Serial No. 233,369

.3 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved form of dust guard adapted for use in journal boxes for car axleshaving a dust guard chamber in the form of a slot provided with an opening at the "'5 "top for insertion of the dust guard, the opening being normally closed, after the insertion of the dust guard, by a cap, usually in the form of an elongated strip of wood, slightly wedge-shaped in cross section, enabling the same to be forced into position in the opening above the dust guard.

It is apparent that it becomes important that this cap remain in position in order to exclude the entrance of particles of dirt, etc., and the object of the present invention is to provide a dust "guard which will not displace this cap-when subjected to'the rocking, tilting, etc., of the dust guard, due to the relative movement of the axle in the journal box when in use on a railway car. The dust guard usually is of approximately the same shape as the chamber or slot in which it is positioned and, consequently, any rocking or tilting brings one of the upper corners against the said cap and displaces the same sufliciently to loosen it and cause it to fall out of the slot, which, obviously, is not desirable.

One of the various forms of dust guard commonly used is constructed of a plate of resilient metal and formed with flanges at its. upper and lower portions, which engage the walls of the slot to hold the guard in position. These guards are formed with their upper edge straight in a general rectilinear form and when the guard is tilted, as stated, one of the corners engages the said cap and. forces it out, or loosens the same.

In carrying out the objects of the present invention .a dust guard is designed, after various experiments, which has all of the useful features of former guards but which is so formed at its upper portion as to prevent any rocking or tilt- 0 ing of .the-same from displacing the cap.

In the drawing a fragmentary section of one form of a journal box is shown, which is known as the round bottom type, such as is commonly used on railway cars, etc. The dust guard is shown as being constructed from a single piece of resilient material, usually sheet steel, which is formed with an intermediate body portion provided with an opening therethrough for the car axle and is also provided with flangesextending from the upper and lower portions thereof away from the plane of the face of the said intermediate body portion, which, when positioned in the dust guard chamber or slot of the journal box, hold the dust guard in position by their yielding engagement with the walls-of the slot.

In order to prevent distortion of the dust'guaro. by the relative movement of the car axle in the journal box, causing a'rocking or tilting of the"'5 guard, a clearance is provided between the outer edge of the guard and the inside of theslot permitting-a limited movement of the guard in the slot transverse to the car axle and theulower flange extends a less distance from thefac'e of 10 the intermediate body portion thereof than the upper flange, causing it to adhere more firmly to the upper walls of the chamber at its upper end and-permitting it to swing more freely from... side to side when the axle moves transversely in the box, as when brakes are applied, etc., and to swing pendulum fashion about its upperend. While this is-desirable in order to prevent damage to the guard it has been found to present undesirable features'when used in a box providedzo witha cap closing the opening at the'top of the dust guard slot, as previously referred to.

The object of the present invention is to provide a construction for a dust guard-of the type described which whilepossessing all'of the 'de- (26 sirablefeatures thereof avoids the undesirable features pointed out. The nature-of the invention and features thereof will appear more fully in connection with the description of theillustrativeembodiment thereof shown in the -ac-i30 companying drawing. In the drawing, Fig. 1 is .an elevation, partly in section, showing the dust guard in its normal position in the dust guard chamber. This view ,is taken on the line l--! of Fig.52, looking in the direction of the arrows. 235

Fig.2 is a vertical central section taken through Fig. 1. Fig. 3.15, adetail top -viewof the dust guard. Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1, taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2 butshowing the guard in tilted position in the slot. already" referred to in the introductory portion of this specification. I

A fragmentary portion of a journal box is shown in section at I and a dust guard chamber or slot at 2 provided therein. The front wall of this slot is shown at 3 and the inner wall at 4, respectively. The opening at the top of this slot 2 is closed, after the dust guard is inserted, by a cap, 5, usually comprising a strip of wood, slightly wedge-shaped in cross-section, enabling the same to be forced and held in position, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4 of the drawing.

The dust guard of the type described comprises a single resilient plate having an intermediate body portion 6 and provided with flanges l and 55 8, respectively, extending from the upper and lower portions of the body portion 6 away from the plane of the face thereof, and an opening 9 for the car axle is provided through the said intermediate body portion 6, as shown in the drawing.

The upper portion of the upper flange 1 extends downwardly and outwardly on either side of the high point or center Ill, which is located on the vertical central line of the guard, these downwardly extending portions and edges are shown at II and 12, respectively, on either side of the central portion I'l'l of the upper flange I. In Fig. 3 is shown, in top view, the straight contact surface 13 which extends continuously across the upper portion of the flange I in a plane parallel to the plane of the face of the body portion 6.

This straight and continuous contact surface I3 as provided in the upper flange 1 retains all of the advantages of the usual rectangular shape of this flange, hereinbefore described, and the downwardly extending portions II and I2 prevent the displacement of the cap 5 when the guard is in use. As heretofore stated, it is desirable to provide for a free swinging from side to side of the guard in the chamber or slot as the axle moves transversely, as when brakes are applied, etc., and, at the same time, to avoid the upper portion of the guard from forcing the cap 5 from position when the guard is rocked or tilted from its normal position, as shown in Fig. 1, into the position shown in Fig. 4, and it will be understood, by reference to these figures, in connection with the description of the action of the several parts in operation, that by reason of the novel construction described and shown for the dust guard all of the desirable features of this very efficient form of dust guard are retained while the undesirable features of former constructions are avoided and a novel and efficient construction is provided for dust guards of this type.

It will also be seen and understood that while the features of the invention described and shown have been designed particularly for dust guards of the type shown that the same may readily be adapted to various constructions of dust guards and it is understood that such modifications of the features described which may be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims are contemplated as a part of the present invention and that the foregoing description and drawing is to be considered as illustrative of an operative embodiment of the same as applied to an improved and eificient type of dust guard, for the purposes stated.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A dust guard adapted for use with a car axle journal box having a dust guard chamber in the form of a slot permitting a limited movement of the dust guard transverse to the car axle and provided with an opening at the top for insertion of a dust guard, said opening being normally closed by a cap inserted therein above the dust guard, said dust guard comprising a resilient plate having a central opening for the car axle and provided with flanges extending across the upper and lower portions thereof bent away from the face of the intermediate body portion of the plate in yielding engagement with one of the vertical sides of said chamber, the upper edge of the upper flange of said plate being tapered on each side of the center of said flange portion in opposite directions to provide for contact of the plate with the side wall of the dust guard chamber, incidental to the tilting of the plate, without the upper edge of the flange contacting the lower edge of the cap, said upper flange also being formed to provide a continuous contact across the flange and the wall of the chamber.

2. A dust guard adapted for use with a car axle journal box having a dust guard chamber in the form of a slot permitting a limited movement of the dust guard transverse to the car axle and provided with an opening at the top for insertion of a dust guard, said opening being normally closed by a cap inserted therein above the dust guard, said dust guard comprising a resilient plate having a central opening for the car axle and provided with flanges extending across the upper and lower portions thereof bent away from the plane of the face of the intermediate bods portion of the plate in yielding engagement l with one of the vertical walls of said chamber, the upper edge of the upper flange of said plate extending downwardly and outwardly on either side of a vertical central line of said plate in opposite directions to provide for contact of the plate with the side wall of the dust guard chamber, incidental to the tilting of the plate, without the upper edge of the flange contacting the lower edge of the cap, said upper edge portion also forming a continuous contact surface in the.

plane of the wall of the said chamber across the upper portion of said plate.

3. A dust guard of the class described, the upper edge of which extends downwardly on either side of the vertical central line through the high point thereof at a predetermined angle below a line at right angles to the vertical central line at said high point at the top of the guard, permitting a limited transverse movement there of, and being adapted to provide for contact of the plate with the side wall of the dust guard chamber, incidental to the tilting of the plate, to prevent the top edge of the guard engaging a cap positioned in the upper portion of the slot above the dust guard.

WILLIS H. SIMPSON. 

